An invitation from Tianyan Pavilion
Yu Jinli felt that her life was heading in an extremely absurd direction.
Just ten minutes ago, she was a proud, independent, single young woman with her own career.
Ten minutes later, she had a domineering, childish, and particularly calculating "fiancé," plus a ten-page "Girlfriend Job Responsibilities and Confidentiality Agreement" that could be described as a "contract of servitude."
This fantastical plot is something even the most popular CEO romance novels on Jinjiang Literature City wouldn't dare to write.
What left her speechless the most was Feng Jinxuan's last question about "reimbursement".
This guy actually wanted her to reimburse him for that kiss in monetary terms!
What kind of bizarre thought process is this?
Does he believe that everything in his world can be quantified into KPIs and financial statements?
“Boss,” Yu Jinli took a deep breath, trying to reason with this man from another dimension, “Feelings cannot be measured by money. You are… desecrating love!”
“Is that so?” Feng Jinxuan shook his head seriously. “I don’t think so.”
He picked up the newly signed agreement, pointed to one of the clauses, and read it to her.
"According to Article 7, Section 3 of the agreement: Party B (Yu Jinli) is obligated to provide Party A (Feng Jinxuan) with positive emotional value, including but not limited to..."
Looking at the man's self-righteous and serious expression, as if he were discussing company secrets, Yu Jinli felt that her romantic mind had been subjected to an unprecedented dimensional reduction attack; it was a pure domineering CEO mentality.
She decided to give up resisting.
She lost to a man whose thought process is binary.
"Okay, okay, I'll reimburse you!" She waved her hand weakly. "I'll have Assistant Wang write you a check for 100 million later, is that enough?"
"That's enough." The man nodded in satisfaction, and then, quite naturally, pulled her into his arms.
"Now, let's move on to the next topic."
"Any other topics?" Yu Jinli asked warily in his arms.
“About,” he lowered his head, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, “how to exercise my legal rights as a ‘fiancé’ in advance.”
...
Over the next few days, Yu Jinli completely lived the life of a useless person, having everything done for her.
Feng Jinxuan seemed to genuinely regard her as some kind of rare "core asset" that needed to be carefully protected.
Her daily work consisted of accompanying him to work, eating with him, and engaging in various forms of "emotional exchange" that were beneficial to his physical and mental health.
As for the company's tedious affairs, they were all handled by Assistant Wang and the newly appointed CEO of "Koi Technology".
Yu Jinli felt that she was being corrupted and degraded at an irreversible rate by the sugar-coated bullets of capitalism.
But... this feeling seems pretty good?
That afternoon, she was nestled on the sofa in the president's office, eating cherries that had been flown in, while remotely "inspecting" the progress of her app development on a tablet computer.
There was a knock on the office door.
Assistant Wang walked in.
“Boss, Ms. Yu,” he said with a strange expression, “Mr. Gu Yanzhi requests to have a video call with you both.”
Yu Jinli's heart skipped a beat.
She almost forgot that there was a ticking time bomb of a "love rival" buried right next to her.
Feng Jinxuan's expression instantly turned cold.
"Bring them in."
Soon, Gu Yanzhi's gentle and refined handsome face appeared on the huge holographic projection.
"President Feng, Jinli." He greeted the two with a smile, his gaze lingering on Yu Jinli for an extra half second.
"It's been a few days, and Koi's complexion has become even more rosy. It seems that President Feng is taking good care of you."
His words sounded polite, but they were full of a probing tone.
Feng Jinxuan didn't say anything, but calmly got up and sat down next to Yu Jinli.
Then, he reached out and, with remarkable ease, tucked a stray strand of hair from the girl's temple behind her ear.
A silent declaration filled with possessiveness.
Yu Jinli's cheeks flushed instantly.
This guy! He's really addicted to acting, huh?!
On the other end of the video, Gu Yanzhi watched the two's intimate interaction, and the smile in his eyes faded a bit.
But he quickly recovered and got to the point.
“President Feng, Koi,” his expression turned serious, “I’m contacting you two today because I have something very urgent to tell you.”
The relaxed atmosphere in the living room vanished instantly.
“Although Hong Fu has been arrested, the Shadow Devouring Sect has not let it go.” Gu Yanzhi’s tone was very solemn. “According to our Tianyan Pavilion’s monitoring, just last night, an evil aura several times stronger than Hong Fu and Elder Ghost Hand descended upon Yun City.”
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be... the sect leader of the Shadow Devouring Sect has come in person."
The sect leader himself has arrived?!
Yu Jinli's heart jumped into her throat instantly.
That's a big boss who can rival her parents, the "palace master" she's never even met!
What is he doing in Yuncheng?
Could it be... that they've come to deliver their heads to her, this "saintly maiden"?
“His target is you.” Gu Yanzhi seemed to see through her thoughts and pointed out incisively, “Or rather, it’s the pure Koi Body within you.”
"He wants to... devour you."
Yu Jinli felt a chill run down her spine.
“So,” Gu Yanzhi looked at her, his eyes becoming more serious and solemn than ever before, “Jinli, today, I am representing Tianyan Pavilion, and also… your parents, to formally invite you to return to the sect.”
"Your power still needs systematic training and guidance to truly awaken. In your current state, facing the sect leader is like throwing an egg against a rock."
"Go home?" Yu Jinli felt an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity and resistance to this word.
She was an orphan from a young age and barely managed to grow up on the meager pensions of her adoptive parents and scraped-together financial assistance.
For her, the word "home" is both distant and a luxury.
Now, suddenly a pair of "biological parents" and a completely unheard-of "sect" appear, asking her to go back?
"I'm not going." She refused without even thinking.
"Koi fish..."
“Mr. Gu,” she looked at Gu Yanzhi with a firm gaze, “thank you and the people behind you for your help all this time. But my home is right here.”
She paused, glancing at the man beside her who had remained silent the entire time, but whose aura was so low it was almost icy.
"Besides, I'm very busy right now. I need to assist my partner and build our business, so I don't have time to go back to... the sect."
On the other end of the video, Gu Yanzhi remained silent for a long time, watching the girl's resolute expression of "protecting her own people."
In the end, he simply sighed softly.
"Okay, I understand." He smiled gently. "I won't force you. But please remember, the doors of Tianyan Pavilion will always be open for you."
After saying that, he cut off the communication.
Silence returned to the office.
Yu Jinli breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if she had fought a tough battle.
Just then, the man beside her suddenly spoke.
His voice was low and deep, carrying a complex emotion she couldn't understand.
"You... really don't want to know about your background?"
"Don't you want to meet your...biological parents?"
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